


TMA Stands For The Mistletoe Archives

by pantalaimon



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Mistletoe, Office Party, The Magnus Institute, but surprise it's, jonmartin, you thought it was jontim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 12:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21968956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pantalaimon/pseuds/pantalaimon
Summary: Jon isn't sure he wants to go to the Magnus Institute's holiday office party, and he especially isn't sure about these new feelings for Martin. Thankfully, Tim is chaotic helpful and gives him a nudge in both those directions.(Set during season 1)
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
Comments: 4
Kudos: 237





	TMA Stands For The Mistletoe Archives

Jon liked to pretend that he didn’t get nervous, but this unfortunately was not true. Obviously spiders made him wary, as well as heights like any rational person, but the main offender was large groups of people. Out on the street or in the shops it wasn’t that big of a deal, because everyone was minding their own business, but as soon as everyone was packed into one room and expected to make conversation, Jon was instantly uncomfortable.  
And, of course, he had just been invited to the Magnus Institute’s annual Employee Holiday Party. He sighed, rereading the small invitation that had been left on his desk for maybe the sixth time.

_Friday, December 22, all Magnus employees welcome! 7:30 pm, event will be catered, hope to see you there!  
Elias_

If it had just been the archives staff, that would have been more manageable. But the entire staff of the Institute? Jon didn’t even know how many people there were, actually. Surely nobody would notice if he wasn’t there. After all, he had only been Head Archivist for two months, and he felt like he barely knew anyone in any of the other departments.

Just then, there was a loud rap on his office door, and before he could say come in, Tim had stuck his head in the door, followed unfortunately by the rest of him.  
“Hey boss, you get that holiday party invite?”

Jon looked from Tim to the invite still in his hand, and then back at Tim. “Er, yes I did.”

Tim grinned. “Well, I know you tend to keep to yourself, but I think you should definitely be there. There’ll be the usual mixture of eggnog and mistletoe, plenty of room for mischief, wink! Anyway, catch you later!”

And just like that, Tim waltzed back out the door, not bothering to shut it behind him. Jon was still reeling from the fact that he had never heard someone say the word wink out loud, that he barely registered the rest of what Tim had said. Surely Tim wasn’t expecting him to actually kiss someone under the mistletoe at a holiday office party. Did people actually do that?

Another rap on the door, softer this time. Jon looked up to see Martin in the doorway, and an unbidden image of mistletoe popped back into his mind. He shook his head firmly, trying to center himself in Serious Archivist mode. “Yes Martin, did you need something?”

“Oh! Well, I was just wondering, d’you think you’re going to the holiday party on Friday?”

Jon sighed, slightly exasperated. It was only Tuesday, and if every member of the archives staff was lining up to ask him about this, would any work get done between now and Friday?  
“Yes, Tim was just round asking about that-”

Martin reddened, starting to back out of the door. “Oh! I see, well, right then, sorry to bother you!”

Jon winced. He hadn’t meant to sound rude, and some part of him was secretly pleased that Martin wanted him to be there. “No, wait, Martin, it’s okay. I’ll- I’ll be there.”

Martin smiled then, soft and unsure, and when the image of mistletoe again rose to the surface of Jon’s brain, he didn’t try to push it away.

~

The rest of the week came and went, and with the exception of Tim seeming more… flirty than normal, everything was business as usual. Jon tried not to think about the idea of everyone being drunk at the party, and he especially tried not to think too hard about seeing Martin there.  
It was close to the end of the day on Friday when Tim once again knocked on Jon’s door. He looked a little more sheepish than usual, and Jon sensed he was about to ask him for something.  
“Yes Tim, what is it?”

“Well, I uh, you said you were going to the holiday party, right?”

Jon tensed, something was up. “Yes, you asked me about it on Tuesday, and I said I was going.”

“Yeah, well… d’you think you could give me a ride, my car’s in the shop right now and I’d rather not take the tube, it’s a few transfers to get there from my place.”

Jon breathed a small sigh of relief. Just a lift there, that was all, very doable. “Yeah, sure thing Tim. Do you, uh, need a ride back afterwards? I’m… probably not planning on staying very late, and…”

Tim cut him off. “Oh, no, no Sasha told me she’d take me home, she always stays late, party animal, you know.”

Jon laughed a bit at this. “Ah, yes, of course. Well, I’ll pick you up at seven, shall I? Text me the address.”

Tim rapped on the doorframe twice as he left. “Sure thing, don’t be late!”

~

The car ride was relatively quick, Tim actually lived on the way from Jon’s flat to the Magnus Institute, and he only slightly began to regret his decision when Tim showed him the mistletoe on a string that he was bringing with him.

“Really Tim? You really think people are gonna go for that?”

“Relax, Jon, I’ll only break it out after everyone’s a little tipsy, they’ll love it!”

Jon wasn’t so sure, but he sighed and didn’t pursue the matter. They pulled up to the institute (there was never enough parking), and got out of the car, Tim balancing his mistletoe and the cheese platter he had decided to bring. As he shut his door, Jon saw Martin watching them from across the parking lot, his face unreadable in the glow of the streetlamps.

He waited until the two had come a little closer before he fell into step beside Jon. “So, you uh, you and Tim came here together?”

Jon grimaced. “Yeah, apparently Tim needed a ri-”

He was interrupted by Tim yelling a loud “SASHA” as she pulled into the parking lot. Sasha, for her part, rolled down the window and yelled an annoyed sounding “WHAT” right back.  
Jon sighed and shook his head rather than finish his sentence, and made his way inside, where there were already far more people than he was comfortable with.

~

The party had been going on for about an hour now, and Jon had unsurprisingly found himself a chair in a quiet corner of the room, content to sip his mulled wine and watch the proceedings get more and more chaotic. True to his word, Tim had waited until everyone had had at least one glass of eggnog before breaking out the string of mistletoe, and was now dangling it over people’s heads. Jon sighed for what felt like the fiftieth time that hour as Sasha came over to sit next to him. 

She sipped her drink, angling herself to get the same view of the room. “You’re having an exciting night, huh?”

“I don’t love crowds, and I don’t usually go out to things like this.” Jon laughed a bit. “In fact, I don’t do much going out at all.”

Sasha rolled her eyes. “How could I have guessed. You’re locked up in your office all day, reading those statements, and now you come to the office party and sit in a corner, just beholding the chaos! But, to each their own I guess. You been ambushed with the mistletoe yet?”

Jon eyed Tim warily. He seemed to be waggling the mistletoe over an unsmiling Elias near the lit up tree. “Thankfully no, I think he’s forgotten about me.”

Sasha stood. “Be thankful for that. I’m gonna go get some more wine so I can survive this party.” She gave him a meaningful look. “You should go talk to Martin over there, he looks almost as pitiful as you.”

Jon frowned but looked over to where she was pointing. Martin was standing over by the punch bowl, looking a bit flushed after his karaoke rendition of We Are The Champions. His hair was tousled and his Christmas sweater in slight disarray, and Jon felt a sudden flutter in his stomach, different from the usual nerves of being in a crowded room. Trying to steady himself, he stood up and walked over to where Martin was, having to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention. 

“Jon!” Martin spun around to see him, obviously a little tipsy and more excitable than usual. He cleared his throat and lowered his voice a little, but seemed to be unable to keep a small smile from playing across his lips. “Are you uh, enjoying the party? I saw you over there, I meant to come and say hi, but I was… the karaoke and-”

Jon smiled. Martin was looking at him as if he was the only person in the room, and it was… a pleasant feeling to say the least. “It’s okay Martin, parties aren’t really my thing, I tend to just sit and watch. But, I figured I should talk to somebody at least, so I came over here.”

Martin beamed, but the smile quickly dropped as he looked over Jon’s shoulder. They both heard a too-familiar voice come up behind them as Jon turned around.

“Ohh, look at that, the misletoe’s comin’ around!” Tim was grinning ear to ear and swaying slightly as he waved the mistletoe around by Jon’s head. “Wouldn’t want to get caught by this Christmas spirit- ooohh! Mr Sims, it looks like the mistletoe’s come between us!”

Jon reddened and tried to back away, but the punch table blocked his way as the mistletoe swung closer. “Tim, I don’t- what are you doing?”

“Oh come on, Jon, it’s just a bit of holiday fun, come on give me a little kiss, ya know ya love me!” Tim leaned a hand on the table, seemingly too drunk to stand on his own. “Just a peck!” 

“Tim, stop it.” Martin was glaring daggers at Tim and the swinging branch hovering near Jon’s face. “No one wants your stupid mistletoe.”

Tim looked surprised, and pushed himself up from the table and away from Jon. “Easy there, Martin, I was just joking around. No one’s beholden to a kiss, mistletoe isn’t a legally binding contract.”

Jon reflexively backed up towards Martin, unsure of what had just happened. “It’s fine, Martin, it’s-”

“No, it’s- Jon clearly doesn’t want to kiss you, stop teasing him with it.” Martin’s glare was softening a little as Tim put his hands up in defense.

“All right, all right, I’ll stop. Mr Sims here probably doesn’t even go for the fellas anyway.”

“That’s not-” Jon began to protest before he realized he was saying this out loud. “That’s not entirely true…” He trailed off and felt his face go redder than before, catching Martin’s eyes go slightly wider in his periphery. 

“Well, it- it doesn’t matter, just- just go put that mistletoe in a doorway or something, instead of swinging it about like a lunatic!” Martin rubbed his face wearily as Tim swayed away.

There was a still moment of silence as neither Jon nor Martin looked at each other, and Jon felt that same fluttering sensation in his stomach again. Martin took a breath and broke the silence, saying “I think I’m gonna find some water.”

Jon cleared his throat. “Of course, yeah.” Martin disappeared through the rest of the crowd, and Jon was left alone again next to the punch bowl. He sighed yet again and checked his phone, only to discover that sometime in the last few minutes it had dropped to 18 percent battery. He retrieved his charger from his coat out in the hallway, and looked around for an outlet before spotting one just outside the entrance to the main event space. 

Standing there in the hallway tethered to the outlet was nearly the same as sitting in a chair in the corner, but for some reason, it felt different. After standing with Martin by the punch bowl, this felt lonelier somehow, and Jon didn’t like it. He was used to being the outsider, watching things happen from the sidelines. So why now, why did this feel worse? Jon stared absentmindedly at his phone, not really thinking about anything, when a voice once again startled him out of his thoughts.

“Hey, Jon?” Martin stood in the doorway, looking nervous. “I didn’t mean to, uh, I didn’t mean to speak for you back there, you just looked uncomfortable and I thought I’d- well I thought I’d say something about it.”

Jon left his phone where it was charging and came over to Martin, close enough to hear him speak over Sasha’s karaoke rendition of My Heart Will Go On. “Honestly, it’s fine, it’s just- it’s just Tim, he’s been doing it to everyone all night. I’m pretty sure he’d be much more tolerable if he was attending this party sober.”

Martin laughed at that, tilting his head back slightly, and as his eyes flicked up to the ceiling for a second, he froze. “Oh for god’s sake, we can’t escape, can we?”

Jon looked up as well, and the fluttering feeling swooped back into his stomach so fast that he nearly fell over. Tim had apparently listened to Martin’s suggestion of just stashing the mistletoe in a doorway, and it just so happened to be the doorway they were now standing in. The two slowly looked down to lock eyes for one long second, and for that second Jon was more nervous than he had ever been in his life. Martin broke the tension with a small laugh, and they both cast their eyes away, but neither stepped away from the mistletoe. 

Martin smiled as his eyes scanned the room. “Tim got us even when he wasn’t here, didn’t he?”

Jon tried to laugh at that, but the fluttering feeling was getting overwhelming, and he needed to speak, he needed to say _something_ or he would explode.

“You know, I- I was never entirely opposed to the concept of mistletoe.” He knew Martin would be looking at him, probably with that same adorable wide eyed look from earlier, but he couldn’t bring his eyes up quite yet. “I always thought it seemed rather nice, honestly.” Finally, finally, Jon raised his eyes to see Martin, once again looking at him like the rest of the world had disappeared.

Martin took a small step closer, but that step was enough to bring them almost nose to nose. His eyes flicked down to Jon’s mouth for only a second, but it was enough to make him shiver. When had Jon started wanting this with such force? It felt like this night had crept up on him, but now that he was here, it was all he could do to not fall over with dizzying Want.

Martin raised his hand hesitantly to Jon’s face and asked softly, “Can I?”

Jon swallowed, his throat dry, and managed to whisper, “Yes.”

The smallest of smiles flitted across Martin’s face before he brought their lips together, and all the fizzy nervousness in Jon’s stomach melted away to a sweet warm happiness. He brought his hand to the back of Martin’s head to pull him in closer, and he thought he could feel Martin smile into the kiss.  
After a few seconds, they pulled apart, and Jon felt Martin’s hand slip into his own.

“You were right, that was rather nice.” Martin smiled again, and Jon swore internally that he had never seen anything like that smile. Then he glanced over Martin’s head and saw Tim and Sasha giving him very drunk and very overt thumbs ups from across the room. He blushed furiously and looked back down to Martin. “I guess I’ll finally have to thank Tim for something, won’t I?”

Martin laughed and leaned into Jon, and for a long blissful moment, Jonathan Sims felt absolutely perfect.


End file.
